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| 31 May 2004 | Monday | 11 Rabi-us-Saani 1425 |
'Jamali-Shujaat rifts widen'
LAHORE, May 30: All efforts to settle party differences between Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali and the ruling party president Chaudhry Shujaat Husain have failed. "Suspicions are there. The gap between the two could not be narrowed," reliable sources told Dawn on Sunday.
Differences between the two top leaders have been there for quite some time.
Mr Jamali's desire to become secretary-general of the party and the support expressed for him by the leader of the Pakistan Muslim League (F), Pir Pagara, are said to have widened the gap.
Although Mr Jamali withdrew his candidature following severe criticism by party legislators at a meeting held at the residence of Chaudhry Shujaat, suspicions between the two sides persist.
As for the role of President Musharraf in the situation, the sources said that so far he had not intervened. He wanted good governance and implementation of his agenda, which was the responsibility of the prime minister.
If the president was not fully satisfied with the performance of the government, the responsibility lay with the prime minister who was the head of government, sources close to Chaudhry Shujaat argued.
The sources said the situation in Sindh was far from satisfactory. A number of coalition partners were complaining that the chief minister was not consulting them in running the province.
The situation would normalize if the chief minister improved his performance, the sources said. However, party leaders are holding consultations on what should be done to satisfy the coalition partners.
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